Easy Perennials For Your Shade Garden

SHADE GARDEN PART II

There are more options when planting a shade garden than just ferns and Hostas. We have a lot of shade in our yard and I hate lawns, for many reasons, but that's another article.

Here are a few more ideas for your shade garden:

Primrose - primula These are one of my favorite plants. They do like sunlight in the early spring, but that's not usually a problem as the leaves haven't created any shade yet. They come in many beautiful colors and really brighten up a shady area. They are best placed in the front as they are only about 8" tall. They work very well as a border.

Lily-of-the-Valley - Convallaria majalis These lovely and fragrant shade lovers are perfect for a shade garden - but only if you want a lot of them! They can be quite invasive, but a lot of shade plants are. I treat mine with a sort of benign neglect and they duke it out with the Vinca and Bishop's Weed and they sort things out.

Bishop's Weed/Gout Weed - Apiaceae - This variegated leafy plant turns the lights on in a dark shady area. It too is very invasive, but that's what I'm usually after. For years I had a very shady, very dry area where nothing would grow. So, when I heard about a plant that takes over anyplace I had to try it and it was Bishop's Weed. It did the job as you can see in the photo below. During extremely dry spells it does a very dramatic wilting act, but never fear, one rainstorm and they're back like Arnold in the "Terminator". Keep a close eye on them as they will spread!

Violets - Another bane of the green-grass lovers, but a natural beauty and they are also edible. I have some that bloom purple, speckled. They are pretty, tough and love shade. They too are very invasive - it seems that much to the contrary of many ‘sun' gardeners, shady turf is very popular among violets.

Corydalis - Has lovely fern-like leaves and small yellow flowers that grow very well in shade and even in dry shade. They self seed after established, but don't get out of control like many other shade plants do. It also comes with blue flowers, but it's not as hardy as they yellow.

If you have a shady area and want to create a garden that requires very little tending and a lot of interest, any or all of these plants will do an excellent job!